Local man a genuine, virtual rock star

The 21-year-old Evansville man has a worldwide fan base, signs autographs, counts Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil as a fan and thinks a man once tried to meet him by pretending he was a female admirer.

Michael "Priest" Holmes rocks.

The 21-year-old Evansville man has a worldwide fan base, signs autographs, counts Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil as a fan and thinks a man once tried to meet him by pretending he was a female admirer.

His life has all the ingredients of the next ax god — except for a real guitar.

Instead, Holmes, a professional "Guitar Hero" performer, entertains on a piece of plastic with five colored buttons at one end. "Guitar Hero," the popular video game series, allows the player to strum along on a guitar-shaped controller to iconic rock songs.

Although his talent has taken him all over North America, Holmes, a native of Odon, Ind., and a 2005 graduate of North Daviess High School, refuses to call himself a rock star.

"Any cool guitar thing ... I'll watch (on YouTube), and I'm very jealous," Holmes said. "I can't actually do that. It's not as impressive going on five buttons as it is on an entire guitar."

The absence of a real instrument didn't stop about 1,000 fans from screaming and shouting for Holmes during a Dallas stop on the 2007 World Series of Video Games. At first, the atmosphere scared him because at most contests it's just him versus his opponent, not performance-based.

"You feel kind of silly, you're hopping around trying to act like a real musician," he said. "I was really nervous at first ... (but) it was probably the coolest experience I've had."

Although he called the performances "a slap in the face" to real musicians, Holmes' Dallas performance impressed Neil, who served as one of the three judges that day. When Holmes played a portion of "Free Bird" with his teeth, Neil, like many in the audience, approved.

"I wasn't looking at him, but I heard his reaction was shock and everything," Holmes said. "After we finished the final round, he came and talked to us, and he thought (the performances) were really cool."

In Dallas, Holmes finished second despite attempting one of the game's hardest songs, "Jordan," by Buckethead.

When he competes, Holmes not only represents himself, but also Team Pandemic, currently the top gaming team in North America. The better Pandemic's members perform in tournaments, the more likely the team will be sponsored, Holmes said. Dell recently agreed to sponsor Team Pandemic.

Holmes, who has been with Team Pandemic for about a year, maintains his own YouTube page, and some of his performances have been viewed thousands of times. He estimated that 80 percent of his MySpace friends are online fans.

Holmes said he averages one or two tournaments a month, many during the summer in order to avoid conflict with his class schedule at the University of Southern Indiana.

He also has traveled to New Mexico, Toronto, Louisville, Ky., and Lexington, Ky., with Team Pandemic.

While Holmes admits to playing for eight to 10 hours the night the latest "Guitar Hero" installment was released, he said he doesn't play as much as he used to because it now feels too much like a job.

"I used to play a lot, several hours a day," he said. "Lately, I haven't been playing as much ... I've never let it get in the way of anything. I played until I had something else I could be doing, and I'd go do it."

Holmes, who is pursuing an accounting degree at USI, said he would like to work in a field involving video games or movies.

Because "Guitar Hero" is new to the competitive circuit, Holmes said it would be impossible to make it a full-time career.

"I was always in it for the fun, and it seemed like a pretty good time, and it has been," he said.

While he's laid back about the game, Holmes said he will scout his competitors before a tournament, looking for their strengths and weaknesses.

Holmes said he doesn't know how much he's won over the past year, but he earned $2,500 for his second-place finish in Dallas.

Holmes admits the game fulfills a lifelong fantasy.

"My dad is a musician. He's played guitar since he was a teenager, so there's always been that interest in me, and I think 'Guitar Hero' is my way of compensating," he said.

Holmes was a percussionist during high school.

He's accepted that some people will never understand how anyone could be a professional gamer. Currently single, he tries to keep his rock hero status secret in certain situations.

"I try not to bring it up (with girls)," he said. "Every once in a while (someone) will be like 'he plays "Guitar Hero,"' and I'll be like 'ehhhh.'"

Later this summer, Holmes will try to qualify for the World Cyber Games, which he described as "an Olympics-type thing." He will try to win the North region in Carmel, Ind., at the end of August. The worldwide contest takes place in November in Cologne, Germany.

Holmes said he believes that with enough practice and dedication, anyone can become a guitar hero.

"It's just five buttons and a strum bar," he said, "and it's just a difference of coordinating your left and right hand with each other."